What is Normal?

There’s a lot of talk right now about returning to normal or, more accurately, questioning when we’ll return to normal. What is normal? Answering that question seems impossible without bringing up the past so let’s look back just a few weeks.

Is normal where everybody endures 1-2 hours of heavy traffic 5 days a week to complete 8 hours of work that could have been done from home? Is normal where we look down on grocery workers, warehouse workers, delivery men & women, public transit employees, and janitors? Is normal where we pay the overwhelming majority a sub-livable wage so CEOs and shareholder can make millions (if not billions)? And in the US, is normal where people actually fear seeking medical help that could save their life because of their horrible, or lack of, health insurance?

I’ll go ahead and say the last thing we should do is return to normal.

Now don’t get me wrong, I want this pandemic to end as soon as possible. No amount of change is worth people dying. I, like many others, would love to see my parents, siblings, and grandparents in person — maybe even around the same dining table.

The way we, as a civilization, can respond to change when under duress is phenomenal. Working from home, FaceTiming friends and family daily, ordering groceries online, practicing regular personal hygiene, making our own meals, and let’s not forget praising the workers that enable our quality of life! It’s just a shame we need a global pandemic to occur before we recognize the flaws around us and make a change.